Andy Reid talked to the media after the morning practice. Here's what he had to say.
Opening Statement:
“Injuries: [RG] Shawn Andrews has an ankle strain, it’s day to day. [CB] Dustin Fox missed with an Achilles strain. [FS Brian] Dawkins is still out with his Achilles. They’re getting better, but we’re just taking them day by day. [DT] Montae Reagor still has some knee swelling, [G] Stefan Rodgers the same thing. [LB Dedrick] Roper, foot strain, it is getting better. He’s maybe a day or two away from being back. [WR Bill] Sampy, he’s making progress, but he’s got a quad contusion and those things take a little bit of time. [DT] Ian Scott has a swollen knee. Again, the swelling is going down. Once it gets down all the way, we’ll put him back out. [CB] Lito [Sheppard] is getting better with his abdominal strain. It was good work today—a lot of live work. That’s what we need right now. This is football, and they’re out there blocking and tackling and those things are very important fundamentals that you take care of. I was happy with the effort the guys put forward. It’s tough coming off those first three days. There’s a tendency to be a letdown on day four. The guys didn’t do that, they came out and played aggressive football and did a nice job of it. Now this afternoon, we’ll have special teams practice and then we’re back into our routine: 10-10-10’s or special teams practices in the afternoon.”
On the physical nature of the camp and the tone he tries to set early in camp:
“I want them to play, because that’s what it takes to get better. If you’re going to be a good tackling football team, then you’ve got to tackle. If you’re going to be a good blocking football team, you’ve got to block. We choose to go live periods on everyone but the quarterback, and I just think it’s an important factor of the game.”
On whether the live periods are any different than last year:
“It’s basically the same thing.”
On whether he is cautious about RB Correll Buchkalter when he takes hits in practice:
“I’m not. Buck made it through last year fine, and he’s fine out here right now. That’s the way we go about it.”
On how TE L.J. Smith is looking so far:
“L.J. is doing okay. He’s not able to do a lot of work yet, but we’re easing him back into it. It’s important that we do that, and we don’t rush it and do something stupid with him. He’s making progress every day and catching the football well when he has opportunities.”
On DT Brodrick Bunkley’s ankle:
“He should be okay. They spatted it up a little bit and he went back in. That’s all part of playing that position. It’s a tough spot to play, and you’ve got to battle through it a little bit.”
On whether there have been any players who have surprised him at this point:
“They’re all doing a good job. I’m not going to single anyone out. They’re all busting their tail and playing good football right now.”
On Smith’s timetable for contact drills:
“Just day-to-day. We try to give him a little bit more every day to see how he does. He had a little soreness a couple days ago, so we backed up and started again. It looked like he did alright today.”
On whether Smith asks to be involved in contact drills:
“I kind of explained to him before we got here what I was looking at, and I’m just gauging him by how he feels.”
On watching the battle between the offensive and defensive lines:
“That’s where you win and lose football games. It’s great work for the young guys [on the defensive line] to be able to go up against a veteran offensive line, and it’s great for the veteran offensive line to get guys who are going 100 miles per hour. There’s no pulling off of those guys—they’re going to bring it, and that’s what the offensive line needs to get their timing down.”
On whether he worries when QB Donovan McNabb scrambles:
“No, he’s fine.”
On Reagor’s injury:
“He had knee surgery. That’s the part that’s bothering him. It’s not his eye, it’s his knee.”
On LB Jeremiah Trotter’s intensity:
“He’s giving it everything he has. He’s setting the tempo. He realizes he’s one of the leaders on that defense, and that he’s got to do certain things to get the guys fired up. Today is a rough day; it’s a little tough getting out of bed today. Certain guys have to do certain things to pick the tempo up and get people to rally around them, and that’s what he did.”
On whether Trotter is the most vocal guy on offense or defense:
“You’ve got guys on the offensive side that talk in the huddle. You’ve got Trott picking it up over there. You’ve got [LB] Takeo [Spikes], and when Dawkins is in there, you’ve got Dawkins. You’ve got guys speaking up, but Trott does a nice job of that. That’s one of his strengths. He’s a good leader.”
